Cliffs Notes on A Midsummer-Night’s Dream © 19811A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM
Notes
including
• Life and Background of the Playwright
• A Brief Synopsis
• List of Characters
• Critical Commentaries
• Critical Essays
• Review Questions
• General Shakespeare Bibliography
• Selected A Midsummer-Night’s Dream Bibliography
By
Matthew Black, Ph.D.
University of Pennsylvania
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68501
1-800-228-4078
ISBN 0-8220-7131-2
© Copyright 1981
by
Cliffs Notes, Inc.
All Rights
Cliffs Notes on A Midsummer-Night’s Dream © 19812LIFE AND BACKGROUND OF THE PLAYWRIGHT
Many books have assembled facts, reasonable suppositions, traditions, and speculations concerning the life and
career of William Shakespeare. Taken as a whole, these materials give a rather comprehensive picture of
England's foremost dramatic poet. Tradition and sober supposition are not necessarily false because they lack
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was an Irish
playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics.
Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in
which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his
main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays. Nearly all
his writings address prevailing social problems, but have a vein of
comedy which makes their stark themes more palatable. Shaw examined
education, marriage, religion, government, health care, and class
privilege.
He was most angered by what he perceived as the exploitation of the
working class. An ardent socialist, Shaw wrote many brochures and
speeches for the Fabian Society. He became an accomplished orator in the
furtherance of its causes, which included gaining equal rights for men and
英美文学选读自考题-15
(总分100, 做题时间90分钟)
Ⅰ.Multiple Choice
Select from the four choices of each item the one that best
answers the question or completes the statement. Mark your choice by
blacking the corresponding letter A, B, C or D on the answer sheet.
1.
Which of the following is not regarded as one of the characteristics
of the Renaissance?______
• A. Rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture.
• B. Attempt to remove the old feudalist ideas in medieval
Europe.
• C. Introducing new ideas that expressed the interests of the
rising bourgeoisie.
• D. Praise of man's efforts in soul delivery and personal
salvation.
SSS_SIMPLE_SIN
A B C D
分值: 1
答案:D
[解析] 文艺复兴的特点是：对古希腊、罗马文化的重新发现；竭力祛除中世纪欧洲的封建主义；推动代表新兴资产阶级利益的新思想。
2.
Which of the following is not true about the Renaissance? ______
• A. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.
Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (born 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) was an
English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in
the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist, He is often
called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving
works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154
sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. He
produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.]His early
plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak
of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then
wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear,
and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English
language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as
